I’ve been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO again recently and it’s sparked a number of Star Wars tabletop campaign ideas. But what system works best for my particular GM style? This week’s column looks at the official Star Wars RPGs and a recently published Star Wars-like system.
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West End Games D6 System
This is the granddaddy of all Star Wars RPGs. The first officially licensed RPG, released in 1987. Given its age and lack of official PDF support (due to licensing) one might think it difficult to obtain play materials. Fortunately, Fantasy Flight Games recently ran a 30th Anniversary reprint of the 1st edition core books. Other books and supplements, especially some of the better 2nd edition books that helped establish the EU canon (no longer canon) can be difficult to come by.
With the Disney acquisition of Lucas Film a great deal of the supplements are now considered non-canon, or “Legacy.” But regardless if the game is to be set in or out of canon, there are enough materials to be run in any Star Wars timeline.
1st Edition rules are kept simple and very lightweight, with only a handful of skills used as umbrella or catch-all for almost every action. 2nd Edition rules are a bit crunchier and introduce a number of new skills, upgrades, and changes to damage and wound mechanics. 2nd Edition Revised & Expanded is the final official Star Wars iteration of the rules and almost feels like a 3rd edition, due to the revisions in combat and difficulty scaling.
All the editions of the WEG Star Wars system present the Force as used in the “Original Trilogy.” Unlike more modern presentations of Jedi and Sith in comics, TV, and video games, the Force is weaker and has fewer overall applications. They’re also harder to use and feel somewhat underpowered. In the words of Han Solo, “Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” The rules reflect this line of thinking.
My preferred version of WEG’s Star Wars system is 2E R&E. While it does have more “crunch” than the light-weight and faster-moving first edition, it makes playing a Jedi a bit easier and more satisfying.
Wizards of the Coast d20/Saga
In 2000, Wizards of the Coast acquired the license to Star Wars and adapted their new Dungeons & Dragons 3E d20 System to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. As with D&D, characters in this rule system use classes and levels to define their skills, hit points, bonuses, and limitations.
Force-users are more powerful in the d20 system compared to the previous D6 system. However, at higher levels, the balance between Force-users and non-Force-users weighs heavily in favor of the Jedi.
In 2007 WotC released the Saga Edition of Star Wars. Despite the name, this does not use the late 90’s SAGA system. The Saga Edition is a version of d20 that would later be seen in D&D 4E. The two WotC Star Wars editions are as incompatible as D&D 3E is to 4E. Saga also utilizes more miniatures rules, and sometimes miniature tactics can get in the way of heroic action.
My personal experiences with both versions are limited to a handful of games played at conventions. From what I remember, I liked the original d20 system (revised) a bit more, but Saga had more supplements to the timelines I liked (Clone Wars and Old Republic). That said, regardless of the version I played, neither felt quite like Star Wars and both editions felt more like Star Wars crammed into Dungeons & Dragons.
Fantasy Flight Games
The most recent official license of Star Wars RPGs belongs to Fantasy Flight Games. In 2013 they released Edge of the Empire core rulebook, followed one year later with Age of Rebellion core rulebook. The third core rulebook, Force and Destiny was released in 2015. With an MSRP of $60 USD per core rulebook, this means a base investment of $180 USD to play all the core classes of the Star Wars setting. The books are high-quality and lovely to look at but there’s enough same or similar content that I can’t help but feel the separation is more of a cash-grab than a thematically-focused release.
The system is a unique dice pool system. The system stands apart in a few ways. Firstly, despite being a dice pool it’s more narratively focused, with the dice encouraging players and GMs to determine the whys and hows of success and failure. Secondly, the dice are custom for the game. Dice have specific colors, sides, and markings based on what is being rolled. While the books offer stickers to place over a set of existing dice, every session will realistically need about three sets of these special dice. The dice could be shared, but many players I know are greedy about their dice. So, for the less frugal and more covetous, consider spending about $50 USD on dice (3 sets at about $17 each).
I wish FFG had organized their books differently and changed the cost structure. Despite needing custom dice and having to learn some new rules, the balance between Force-users and anyone else is handled excellently without anyone feeling under-powered. Because of the themed books different classes have variances in narrative focus, but nothing that prevents a party mixed of diplomats, smugglers, and Jedi. Once the GM and players have an understanding of the system actions can flow quickly and feel narratively satisfying.
Evil Hat’s Scum and Villainy
Not to be confused with the d20 supplement of the same name, Scum and Villainy is published by Evil Hat Productions and uses the a variation of the system used in the gaslight heist-based game, Blades in the Dark. The rule system has been genericized as Forged in the Dark and I expect to see other FitD implementations soon.
FitD uses a simplified dice pool mechanic. A number of d6s are rolled and the highest die is taken as the result, with multiple 6s resulting in a critical success. Unlike many dice pool systems, no math or counting of success dice is required. This simplicity results in fast resolution of any action.
In Scum and Villainy’s setting, the Mystic class bundle (defined in the rules as a “Playbook”) is a stand-in for Jedi. Only minimal conversion would be needed to take the published setting to the more familiar Star Wars galaxy. While the rules are heavily focused on humans, it does offer some options for playing an alien (or a “Xeno”). With the system’s narrative focus, it would take little work to play as a Star Wars alien (who are often similar to humans, anyway).
That said, the Forged in the Dark system works best when each adventure is a heist or gambit and adventures are made to start with the characters already in the heat of the action (with role-played flashbacks as a “how they got here”). So, while much of the system can be converted to Star Wars, the FitD play structure may not suit all play styles.
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